Danvers girls basketball bows out in first round

Friday

Mar 7, 2014 at 4:45 PMMar 7, 2014 at 4:45 PM

By Stephen Martelluccidanvers.sports@wickedlocal.com

It was one-and-done for the Danvers High School girls basketball team in the Division 2 North state tournament when they lost to Pentucket at West Newbury, 46-33 Feb. 27. With the defeat, the 11th-seeded Falcons ended the year at 11-10. The sixth-seeded Sachems (17-7), however, lost in the next round to Arlington Catholic, the three seed, at Woburn, 59-35 March 1."It is no secret that we have struggled to score at times this year," said coach Pat Veilleux. "Our defense was our backbone, and we did well there. [Pentucket] have a very good team, and that gym is a very tough environment to play in."The game was a lot closer that the final score would indicate. The Falcons headed into the fourth quarter trailing by only six, 30-24."We were in a funk for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, and they hit a couple of shots, and were able to pull away," said Veilleux. "They also shot their free throws well."The Sachems shot 14 more free throws (37-23), and also hit 8 of their 12 free throws in the final two minutes of the game to seal the deal.Danvers, who did cut the lead to one in the second half, trailed after one quarter, 9-6, and 21-15 at the half. They led briefly when Hannah Llewellyn hit a three-pointer early in the second to make it 11-10. However, Pentucket scored the next 10 to take control.The Falcons offense struggled. In most of their possessions, they had only one chance, and were also out-rebounded by a Sachems team with a distinct size advantage.Late in the fourth, when the Falcons had to foul to stop the clock, Emily McNulty and Delaney Zecha both fouled out.Ashley Arnoldy and McNulty led the Falcons in scoring with seven points each. Kara Connors, Llewellyn and Zecha each chipped in with five.Danvers will lose five seniors to graduation — Devin Johnson, Allie Walsh, Arnoldy, Zecha and McNulty. Walsh played only three games, before tearing her ACL. Arnoldy, McNulty, Zecha and Walsh were this year’s captains.The Falcons finished second with an 8-6 record in the Northeastern Conference Small Division.